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ms:Empayar JepunFor the first time in so many centuries since the barbarian Mongols, the Land of the Rising Sun is once more threatened with darkness. All around Japan and Asia, the white devils are striking bargains to desecrate Amaterasu's sacred islands and plotting schemes to place stumbling blocks in the way of Her people. Japan's rivals are indeed thus many, but their time shall come - Russia is too engrossed with flea-infested and impoverished Europe; Britain and France are at war with their own subject-colonies; and American affluence has resulted in decadence and self-doubt. Perhaps Asia will be obliged to accept a new master capable of showing the world what Asia is truly capable of? Gameplay The Japanese faction is classified by three factors: defence, economy, and navy. With towers and forts enjoying a boost in their tactical capabilities, and the ability to spawn fishing ships from your harbour once erected, Japan can work towards becoming a powerful sea power, protected on land by powerful fortresses, which is something that one should take into account. Japanese sea power is also further enhanced by its possession of the Yamato-class super battleship, a slow-moving but hardy warship, capable of taking immense amounts of punishment in battle — and repaying it all back in kind. Japan's air force and naval units are also sufficiently powerful to give other players' pause early on. Japanese battleships are often slower but have better range, while Japanese aircraft early on are very fast well until the Electronics Era. On land, however, it is another story. In contrast with the immense firepower and armour of the Yamato, Japanese tanks and other vehicles however suffer from having low hitpoints and armour ratings. Even so two traits are to be noted: many of their units have high rates of fire and suffer no minimum range penalties, a trait which is shared by almost all of its units to make up for their poor durability. If the Japanese player can gain numerical superiority, its units can emit a witherhing hail of fire which can even reduce the almighty German and Russian tanks to charred steel in minutes — and men and horses into a red mist. However, if faced against the appropriate counters, ie tanks to foil infantry, AA guns to counter aircraft, etc, the Japanese war machine can grind to a halt if not be wholly annihilated. So always be wary — even factions like China can eventually bring out Shermans and other units to catch you unawares if you are not prepared. The second is that Japan's armoured vehicles tech tree, like Italy's, is conducive to early game aggression. Because many of the factions need to wait to get proper vehicles, and most factions' vehicles are normally on par with one another well until the later stage, you should always endeavour to strike a decisive blow before the Electronics Era. Japanese tanks, with their lack of minimum range, are ideal for this. The best use for Japanese tanks is to use them to defend islands from an oncoming invasion. While your navy and airforce engage the enemy's offshore assets, use your unique vehicles to close in on the beaches and destroy the enemy transports before they land. The lack of minimum range also means that they don't need to retreat to get a better view of the enemy in order to engage. There is one wonder which Japan should always try to build: the National Redoubt Complex. This large building, in addition to offering added protection and a means of healing your HP-starved troops, also hosts Kamikaze Doctrine, which permanently changes some of your planes and submarines into Kamikaze units. Use this power as well as you can - it can be used either to slow down an enemy if you are trying to wait out a timer, or allow you to finish off an already mortally wounded opponent to win the game. Hence, it is vital for the Japanese player to combine the Japanese fortifications with their enhanced range with the units of an army. Think of bunkers and fortresses as being "immobile armoured units" which can be used as firebases and field hospitals to support your units in battle. Having your units supported and properly healed is vital to ensure that they will be tip-top condition to proffer resistance that would make even the most heroic of samurai kami quake before them! So the Japanese way of war is fairly simple enough - use your defences to protect your troops, and try to get a good rush on early in the game, supported by your taxation gains. Once you have taken out your fourth city from the enemy, then you can begin to shore up your defences, resupply your troops and choose either to wait it out with a wonder/territory victory if possible. Notes Although in real life Formosa was a vital part of the Empire of Japan prior to WW2, the game depicts Formosa as a capital of Nationalist China. This is because of the difficulties expected to arise if Japan were to start off occupying a capital of another nation. Japan has four leaders: *The first: Takahashi Korekiyo *After the Feb 26 Incident: Konoe Funimaro *Axis coup: Tojo Hideki *Under allied occupation: Kijūrō Shidehara *Under Soviet occupation: Miyamoto Kenji Unique units Infantry *Rifle infantry: Konoe Shidan Regiments - these are rifle infantry (4-6) *Heavy rifle: T4 (based off the Recoilless gun) *Special forces: (Japan doesn't receive them so early) Rikusentai => Giretsu Kuteitai (armed with SMGs) *Special: Suicide Soldiers - sword infantry, recruited from the Bunker if Kamikaze tactics was researched. Tanks *Light tanks: Ha-Go 3-6 *Tankette: T94 Te-Ke # 2 *Med tanks: Type 89 I-Go => 3 Type 97 Chi-Ha 4-5 => Type 1 Chi-He 6 *Heavy tank: T4 Chi-To 6 Artillery Assault gun: *T4 Ho-Ro 5-6 Tank destroyer: *T2 Ho-Ni 6 Cannons: *T38, 1-3 => T35 light artillery 4-6 *T94 37 => T1, 47mm [5-6 (AT guns) * Other vehicles *Hokoku armoured car Special units *Armed caravan^ *Armed merchant^ *Armed supply truck/Halftrack^ => TSS Engineer (is the I-Go, but with no turret, only a simple cupola and a flame nozzle - combines the supply truck and flame tank together but is somewhat costly) *Flamethrower infantry^ Aircraft *Fighters: Biplane^ => Ki-43 3-4 => "Hayate" 5 => Kikka 6 *Bombers: Ki-20 3 => Ki-21 4 => G5N Shinzan 5-6 *Special: Potez-25 2 => Mitsubishi G4M 3 *Ohka (upgrade of carrier fighters, these become suicide bombers) Naval *Kongo-class super battleship - has more firepower than other capital ships *Yamato-class super battleship - costly and slow to move and build, but immensely powerful. *Kaiten-class (replaces submarines - cheaper, weaker, but with a strong suicide attack) Other *Coolie. Replaces a citizen, is cheaper, but slower and weaker, and also cannot be converted into Militia. Unique technologies Kamikaze Tactics "Gone with the spring / Are young boys like cherry blossoms. / Gone are the blossoms, / Leaving cherry trees only with leaves." - Matome Ugaki, Japanese kamikaze pilot *Increases attrition to Level 4 *Available from the National Redoubt Complex wonder National bonuses Pacific: *25% Higher Commerce Cap *Recieve Double Income from Taxation *Forts and Tower +2 Range *Receive Free Fishing Boat with each New Dock Unit bonuses *Tanks have no minimum range *Tank research is initially relatively faster but over time becomes slower with each advance. *Tankettes are manufactured from the Munitions Factory, not the Heavy Engineering Depot. *Create Ships 33% Faster *Create AA Units, AA Buildings 25% cheaper and 33% faster *Can research Kamikaze doctrine *Barrage balloons are faster and have +1 armour. *Counter-infantry tactics for unique infantry